The Thin Red Line
by bobaa
Summary: Inuyasha has been a mess since his ex-girlfriend died. His parents are sick of it. What happens when they hand in a job application for him at the Higurashi Shrine? Will he find happiness again? InuxKag
1. Chapter 1

**The Thin Red Line**

_Inuyasha is mourning over the death of his ex-girlfriend._

_His parents are getting annoyed and ask his older brother to find him a distraction._

_What happens when his Dad hands in a job application filled in for his son to the old shrine that's looking for new employees?_

_InuxKag. RokuxSango. KougaxAyame. SessxRin._

**Disclaimer-** I don't own Inuyasha. I wish I did though.

**Chapter One**

Inuyasha's POV:

It was late. I sat quietly on my bed. The flat screen my parents gave me last Christmas was on showing some random game show and was barely audible. I wasn't actually watching it. Instead I focused on the rain crashing harshly against my window. I closed my eyes. Today was exactly a year since the accident.

I could still hear the moment her heartbeat gave out, the echocardiogram screeching at her last breath.. Her final words echoed in my head. 'Find others that make you smile, Inuyasha. They're out there. Trust me.' Right before she closed her eyes for the last time.

Kikyo.. help me. What did you mean? I can't find anyone. I don't want anyone but you.

My ears perked up on my head as I heard my doorknob turn. The door flew open bringing in the scent of who was coming in, my eyes remained closed.

"Sesshomaru," I sighed. "What do you want?"

I could feel his cold stare sinking into me. He slowly approached my bed as I opened my eyes turned my gaze at him. He threw a tie on my face.

I growled. "What the hell!"

"Father sent me in here. He said to tell you he got you an interview at the Higurashi Shine for tomorrow morning."

With that he was about to walk out. I got up about to grab at him before he turned to look at me.

"Don't think about ditching it. He's sick of you moping around the house. He wants this job to help distract you and bring you out of your foul mood."

I scowled. "You're one to talk! You never smile and barely even talk to anyone besides Rin!"

"That's my nature little brother. What's your excuse?"

With that he walked out leaving my door open. I was crushing the red tie he'd given me in my hands. Easing my grip I threw it onto my dresser.

Higurashi Shrine.. I thought that place was closed. Ugh, I don't need this right now.

I slammed my door shut and sat on my bed again. Brushing my hands through my hair I fell into my pillow. Putting the light off I forced myself to sleep. I needed enough energy to deal with tomorrow.

**The next morning..**

Kagome's POV:

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

"Mmmm." My eyes squinted as I slammed on my alarm clock, switching off its horrible sound. Blinking once to check the time I saw the big red lights flashing 11:00 am. I woke up later than usual today.

Forcing myself out of bed, my eyes still closed, I made my way over to my door and pulled it open stepping into the hallway. Rubbing my eyes I looked into the corridor, taking a step I collided with my younger brother.

"Souta.." I mumbled.

"Hey sis! Wake up! Gramps says he has some interviews today and he wants your help."

With that Souta scrambled downstairs towards the smell of freshly made pancakes. Food.. I wanted some so bad. Shaking myself away I made my way to the bathroom. Brushing my teeth and washing my face, I changed out of my pink polka-dot pajamas into a pair of skinny jeans and a dark green shirt. Then I went downstairs.

"Hey Mom!" I said. A woman in her early forties turned from the kitchen counter smiling towards me. A skillet in her hands, holding a freshly made pancake!

"Good morning Kagome! Hurry up and eat. Grandpa said he wanted your help."

"Yeah yeah. I will." I grabbed a plate of pancakes from her and threw down a bunch of syrup. Cutting a triangular portion out I stabbed it with my fork, just as I was about to put it in my mouth a big crash was heard from outside.

"The hell.." I said. I grabbed my plate and rushed outside behind Souta and my Mother.

I stood gaping at the sight in front of me, a fork in my mouth. Two demons were fighting each other; one had knocked the other into the shed. Gramps was on the ground with a bucket over his head and a puddle of water where he sat.

"Gramps!" Yelled Souta. He went over helping Gramps get the bucket off his head.

I directed my attention back to the scene. One demon stood victorious stretching his right arm above his head. His eyes were bright blue and he has long black hair tied up neatly, a brown head-band firmly pushing the bangs off his forehead. He was wearing baggy ripped jeans and a brown button down shirt. Sniffing the air he turned to look right at me. Without hesitation he walked right up to me grabbing my free hand.

"My name is Kouga. And you are?" He said looking right into my eyes.

"Uf mai nam is Kahgoma." There was still a fork in my mouth messing up my speech and I couldn't take it out because Kouga was holding my free hand.

"Hey! Stupid wolf! You think you can just hit me and walk away!" A voice trailed behind Kouga.

I looked away from him and saw another boy coming out from the shed. He had long silver hair flowing down his back and deep golden eyes. Wearing a white button down shirt with black dress pants and a red tie he looked.. spiffy to say the least. His face turned into a nasty scowl as he looked directly at Kouga, who was STILL holding my hand. He started walking this way and grabbed Kouga by the collar of his shirt, thankfully away from me.

This time Kouga spoke up. "What the fuck is your problem you filthy mutt! Can't you see I'm talking to a gorgeous girl- whose name I never quite caught by the way.." He said turning his eyes back on me.

"I don't care who she is. When you pick a fight with a Takahashi you better be ready to finish it. Not cut it short for the first wench that catches your eye- SHIT!"

I stood fuming next to the boy with silver hair, my fork stabbed into his right arm. He let go of Kouga and faced me, grabbing the fork out of his arm and throwing it to the ground.

"What the fuck what that for you wench?" He yelled at me.

I yelled right back. "My name is Kagome! Ka! Go! Me! NOT WENCH."

"I don't care what your name is! You don't go around stabbing people with forks bitch!" I grabbed for his tie and pulled his face closer to me.

"It's not bitch either! If you don't want to get hurt then don't go around bad mouthing people- especially girls you don't even know!"

*splash*

Gramps stood there holding a bucket- a now empty bucket in his hands. He had thrown holy water on top of both me and the boy with silver hair. Kouga had managed to distance himself away from us before he was caught up in it. Both of us stood there silently, being shocked out of fighting by the freezing cold water.

"Good. Now that you have all calmed down, dry yourselves and meet me in front of the Sacred tree in 5 minutes." He spoke calmly and walked away into the house.

Souta ran over to hand me a towel. "Here sis! And you too.. uhh what's your name mister?" He took my plate of ruined pancakes.

"Inuyasha Takahashi."

"Cool I'm Souta Higurashi! Are you interviewing here today?"

"Yeah, if that's what you'd call it. My parents want me to work for the rest of the summer."

I started patting myself dry. Kouga walked towards us and stood there quietly looking at me. 'Eh. He's cute, but he's really forward.' I thought. I rested the towel on my ruined hair, turning to Inuyasha and started talking.

"Hey, Inuyasha, why were you and Kouga fighting in the first place?" He threw me a sharp gaze. I keep eye contact with him, waiting for an answer. He turned away from me.

"Feh. I don't have to explain myself to you. Stupid girl."

"Why you..."

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and turned to meet my eyes with Kouga.

"Don't worry about him Kagome. He just got sensitive when I called him a half breed-" Kouga was cut short with a kick to the face.

"...half breed?" I turned to look at Inuyasha who was standing there with a sour expression on his face and his foot in the air.. half breed.. as in half demon? So his other half was.. human? A hanyou. We hadn't really discussed them much in school, but I knew they existed. I never saw one in person before.

Looking more closely at Inuyasha I saw he had claws and fangs. Not as sharp or long as Kouga's. But they were still there. And his ears were on top of his head.. his cute adorable ears. I had to suppress my urge to reach over and touch them.

"Half is all I need to kick your scrawny behind. Wolf boy." Said Inuyasha. Even thought Kouga was being too close for comfort, I helped the poor guy up. He just got kicked in the face! Inuyasha turned to Souta.

"Where is the place that old man told us to go?"

"It's this way- follow me."

Souta led Inuyasha towards the sacred tree. And I was left to help Kouga get back up on his feet.

"Thanks Kagome, you're a real sweetheart." Kouga flashed me a toothy grin and I replied back with a smile. "No problem."

I made my way with him towards the tree behind Inuyasha and Souta. Gramps was standing there with one uniform in his hands. As I approached I could see that Inuyasha was holding a red uniform.

"Ah, good. You're finally here. Well young man, this is for you." He handed Kouga the brown uniform.

"I want both of you to be here early tomorrow morning at 9 am sharp. Today you only have to stay for a few hours so you learn where everything is." He said.

Both Inuyasha and Kouga spoke up at the same time. "Both of us.." They turned to scowl at each other.

"Yes, from this moment on you both are employees of the Higurashi Shrine!"

Both demons looked at each other in a heated fury.

"You can start by changing into your uniforms and cleaning the shed you destroyed." Gramps walked away leaving the two to glare at each other.

Souta nudged my stomach and whispered at me "How long do you think till one of them kills the other one?" I returned my gaze to the two angry boys in front of me. I shrugged at him in response. Kouga smiled and walked over towards me.

This is getting annoying.. My shoulders tensing up.

Inuyasha's POV:

I can't believe I have to work with that idiotic wolf..

I looked over to Kagome, that stupid mutt towering over her. Her neck was still a little wet from earlier, a drop started sliding slowly down her collar bone- interrupted by Kouga who brushed it off with his fingers. I growled.

Stupid rabid diseased mutt..

My hand reached up to my right arm as I threw her an annoyed look. There was gunna be a temporary scar where she stabbed me. Damn, she broke the skin. She turned to look at me, moving her glance onto my arm.

"Hey, Inuyasha.", she said. The ears on my head perked up as I met her eyes and tilted my head in response. "Stay right there!"

I felt something tugging at me shirt. I looked down to see Souta. He looked a lot like Kagome; his eyes were a little lighter.

"What?" I barked.

"So are you gunna work here now?" he asked.

I shrugged and responded. "Yeah. Guess I am kid."

"Can you teach me to kick the way you owned the wolf man?" he looked up at me with a toothy smile. I grinned.

"Sure kid, why not? You're not too bad. Compared to your sister.."

Souta frowned a bit at my comment. "Don't worry about Kaggie, she's just not a morning person."

"Kaggie?", I said.

"Hey!" My ears perked up.

Looking over I saw Kagome coming out of her house with a small white box in her hands. Her soft, still wet hands.. she stopped right in front of me.

"Pull up your sleeve." She commanded. I backed off a bit at first but her persistent glare tore through me and I retreated into a crouch.

I sat down at the base of the sacred tree while she used some rubbing alcohol to disinfect the place she stabbed me. Souta and the wolf were talking about Kung Fu. She then started searching around in the box while a small breeze blew by. Her scent of jasmine and honey blew right through me, my whole body inclined towards her automatically. She carefully took out a red band-aid and placed it on my wound. Noticing the proximity of our faces she backed off a bit. I retreated as well, feeling uncomfortable.

"Sorry about stabbing you before like that.. I chose the band-aid to match your tie.." she whispered.

I smirked. "Don't worry about it.."

She smiled at me for the first time. She opened her mouth slightly like she was about to say something- before she got cut off.

"Hey!" Kouga stepped towards us. "Get your ass away from Kagome. She's mine." He pulled up close to Kagome, pushing me back. I growled.

"You know Kagome, that mutt kicked my face pretty hard. Maybe you can make it better by giving me a little kiss?" He winking at her. I wanted to gag.

Kagome slowly backed away form him smiling nervously. This guy was giving me a headache. I was about to pummel his face when a figure suddenly approached out of nowhere, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Kindly remove your hand from my cousin." He said. Kouga quickly backed off, retreating next to me.

"Roku!" Yelled Kagome. She got up to give him a hug. Souta also rushed over.

I looked at the guy. He was probably an inch of two shorter than me. Had jet-black hair that was pulled back at the base of his head into a small ponytail. He was wearing a purple shirt. A golden staff in his right hand.

"Hello", he said while looking over to Kouga and me. "My name is Miroku. Who might you two gentlemen be?"

"I'm Inuyasha."

"My name is Kouga." He stretched out his hand towards Miroku, who just nodded his head at him.

"Roku, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you in weeks." asked Kagome.

"Well I came back from training with Master so I'll be around more often. Also your Grandfather called me in to update some of the seals at the Shrine. He fears they may be growing weak. Did your Miko senses pick anything up?"

'Miko? She's a Miko?' I looked over at Kagome whose eyebrows were now pulled together. Her head fell down.

"I'm not strong enough to notice specifics things like that just yet.." She whispered.

Kouga walked over to her, wrapping his arm around his waist. "Don't worry babe. I'm sure you'll be able to detect them soon enough!" He said. My muscles tensed up.

Miroku pushed his staff into Kouga's left foot. "Distance yourself." He said smiling. Kouga took a forced step back, removing his arm from Kagome. My muscles relaxed.

'I hate that stupid wolf. I can't believe I have to deal with this bullshit. Damn Father.'

I felt another tug. It was Souta again. "What now?" I growled.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"It's 12:50 squirt."

"AW SHIT!" He yelled. I stumbled back a bit.

Quickly after Kagome grabbed Miroku's staff and took a swing at Souta- who ducked swiftly avoiding it.

"Souta! I told you not to curse!" she yelled.

'She's too damn feisty for being so tiny..' I thought.

"Sorry sis! But Sango is gunna kill me if I'm late today." Souta ran off into the house. Miroku leaned on Kagome's shoulder while she tried calming down.

"Hey Kaggie.. I can take Souta to class today. You can just relax at home." He said with a goofy smile on his face.

"Ha, Right. So you can grope Sango? No way, besides you have to stay here and work on those seals. Ayame is taking them there today anyways. You can come pick them up with me once you're done here."

Miroku's whole face lit up. "I'm holding you to that!"

I looked at Miroku and Kagome. "Who's Sango?"

Miroku just stared off into space as Kagome started talking. "She's our neighbor, her family owns a Dojo a little bit away from here. She teaches some of the classes there. Souta is in her division, along with her little brother Kohaku. They're best friends. Sango is one of my best friends too."

"Who's Ayame?" Kouga spoke up from behind me.

"She's Kohaku's babysitter. Someone needs to watch him when Sango is at the Dojo."

"Inuyasha! Kouga!" I turned my head to see the old man walking towards us. He spoke to Miroku as he was walking towards us. "Good to see you, Miroku. Please get started on those seals, lest some demons should reawaken."

"Of course." Said Miroku. He turned away and started walking towards a large wooden house. It had a sign outside that was inscribed: 'The Bone Eater's Well'

I felt shocks run up my spine. This place was too creepy. The old man retuned his attention to us.

"As for you two, I have a special job for towards. Once you're done you may check in with me and return home. Follow me." He said. Kouga and I started walking behind him. Leaving Kagome there.

Kouga turned around and yelled towards her. "Catch ya later Kagome!" She just nodded and turned back to walk into her house.

The old man opened a huge shed. A cloud of smoke flowed out. I covered my nose. He spoke up.

"Both of you will change into your uniforms inside the house. Then come and clean out this place. It's your job to take your uniforms home and clean them everyday if they get dirty. Be cautious in here, many items are antiques. You break it; money gets deducted from your paycheck. So don't fight in here."

With that he walked away.

Great. Now I have to work with this asshole in this shitty place. I started unbuttoning my shirt and headed for the house to change into my red freak uniform. Once we were out we started cleaning the shed out.

I sneezed.

Ugh. My head feels light. I don't know if my nose can take this abuse. I sneezed again.

I kept dusting off and cleaning things. Ignoring Kouga and working around him.

I don't wanna work here dammit.

**End of Chapter One**

Kay! That's it for chapter one! I'm trying to focus on bringing in the characters for the few chapters. But I'll be putting in more InuKag moments soon enough! Please bear with me.

And I had no idea what to do for the title but hopefully it works its way into my storyline.

Please review and gimme whatever feedback you may have! I'll be super grateful(:

I'm planning on updating every two days. Hopefully school doesn't get in my way.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the lovely few people who replied!

This is my first fanfic so I'm happy someone actually liked it (:

And I know I said I would update every two days- I'm sorry it's been like a week! My computer got a virus and there was no internet till today. But I tried making this chapter long so enjoy!

Anyways! Chapter Two!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha.

**Chapter Two**

Kagome's POV:

I was back in the house. Having left the two boys working outside. Mom made me a new plate of pancakes to make up for the ones that got ruined because of Gramps. I had a long time before I had to go pick up Souta- he was going to stay extra hours today to work on his kendo. I walked upstairs, leaving my dirty dishes in the sink. I ran up to my room and started on my summer assignments, working for about an hour. I stopped when I heard my door creak open.

"Kagome?" I turned to see someone peaking into my door.

It was Ayame. Her bright red hair tied into two high ponytails. She was wearing a low cut green shirt and khaki boy shorts. She walked into my room sitting at the foot of my bed.

"Hey, what's up?" I said. Folding my books shut giving her my full attention.

Ayame leaned in her whole body to talk to me. "I dropped off Kohaku and Souta a while ago and now I have time to kill. Also Souta told me the Shrine has two new employees. Two male employees."

I nodded to verify her statement. "So Kagome, are they cute? Do you have dibs on either one of them? Can I meet them?"

"Dibs?" I asked.

"Yeah.. like do you kinda like either one of em?"

I thought back to when I put the band-aid on Inuyasha's arm.

'He looked really genuine when he said that.. he even smiled a little.' I shook my head. 'Ugh. It was one single moment. How can that even be the tiniest bit significant?'

"Kagome!" Ayame broke me out of my trance. "You DO like one! You're totally blushing! Which one is it huh? WHICH ONE!"

I could feel my face getting hot. "I don't like either one! They're both insane. I saw them both when they were fighting. Kouga had throw Inuyasha into a shed! And Inuyasha kicked Kouga straight in his face!"

"Those are hot names. Are they demons?"

"Yeah, they're both demons. Well, Inuyasha is a half."

"A hanyou.. that's perfect for you Kagome!" Ayame was yelling again.

I shushed her. "What are you talking about? Where do you even get these ideas?"

"Well half-demon is perfect for you. All kinds of guys have liked you. But human boys can't really keep up with you girl- like that one guy that follows you around, what's his name. Hoho?"

"Ayame his name is Houjo! He's been in school with us for like 5 years now!" I was quickly getting tired of her insane logic.

'Houjo was nice.. just. Something, I don't know what.' I thought.

Ayame continued. "Yeah, that guy. Well, he's too soft for you Kagome. Maybe you need a guy with an edge. Maybe you need a guy who can kick someone in the face.. and I need a guy who can survive getting kicked in the face." She threw me a wink.

'Edge huh?' I let my thoughts flow. 'Well, Inuyasha definitely has a edge to him. The way he referred to me as a wench was out of line.. but he was nice to me after it blew over. I guess he's not horrible. He still doesn't seem like my type though.'

"Hey Kagome.. KAGOME!", Ayame yelled for my attention.

I jumped, a bit taken aback. "Wh- what?", I stammered.

"Let's go. I want to meet them." Ayame started walking out of my room. I pushed my books off my lap and walked after her.

We walked outside together and heard noises coming from inside the storage shed. Ayame walked ahead of me and inside. There was dust everywhere. I sneezed as I walked in.

"Dammit dog boy! Stop sneezing every fucking two seconds- oh hey Kagome!" Kouga walked towards Ayame and me with a clay pot under one arm.

"What'd ya say flee bag?" Inuyasha appeared from behind a rack of random artifacts. His eyes were watering and his nose was red.

Ayame stepped in front of me into Kouga's view. Inuyasha stood behind him in his red uniform, his sleeves pulled back to work.

"Hi! I'm Ayame!" She shook Kouga's free hand with a small blush on her face. She turned around and mouthed to me; 'Kagome, you didn't tell me he was a wolf demon!' They both started talking as I took a few steps towards Inuyasha.

"Hey." I started. "Are you doing alright in here? Your nose looks really red."

"Feh I'm fine, don't worry about me. The ancient dust in here is just throwing my senses off for some reason. Not sure why."

"Here.. maybe I can help." I walked all around the shed opening some windows and letting some dust out. "That better?" I asked.

"Yeah. Thanks Kagome." He said. Throwing a small smile my way.

'Whoa. He's actually smiling, looks better when he isn't scowling..'

"KAGOME! Look at what I found!" It was Ayame, she was yelling. Again. I walked towards her voice to see her leaning over a chest. She pulled out a few arrows and some long knives. She threw me a look. "Want to?" she asked.

"You read my mind."

I grabbed a bow and the arrows before we walked out of the shed, leaving two confused demons behind. Going behind the house we reached a fence where there were three targets lined up. We both took our positions opposite our own targets. Ayame held her knife in the air behind her ready, taking aim. I put my arrow inside my bow and pulled back on it.

Ayame started counting down. "Three.. two.."

"One!" I yelled. We both released our weapons at the same time. Mine hit first. Right in the center! My powers kicked in and started dissolving the target with its aura.

"Oops.." I said.

"WOAH." said voices behind me.

I turned around to see Ayame, Inuyasha, and Kouga staring at me- their mouths slightly hanging open. Ayame, was obviously first to start speaking.

"Kagome. How did you do that? Last time we practice you hit the outer rings!" she was yelling, yet again. "That was amazing!"

Kouga took a step forward. "I thought you said your Miko powers weren't strong."

"They're really not that strong.." I said, my head facing down.

"You're wrong." Inuyasha was in front of me. "The energy that came off of that shot was really strong. If you controlled it a little better your power would increase easily." I could feel my face burning up.

"Hey, mutt-face. How come you're acting like you know so much about this?" Kouga was standing behind Inuyasha.

"My girlfriend was a Miko. I used to help her practice."

My heart skipped a beat. 'Girlfriend?' I looked up at Inuyasha.

Kouga leaned into Inuyasha's face. "Was? Used to huh? I can smell your grief pup. So did she ditch you because you weren't any help?"

Whatever happiness may have been on Inuyasha's face completely disappeared. His expression turned hard. My heartbeat sped up.

"I guess you could say she ditched me. She died."

Inuyasha's POV:

I turned my head up to see wolf-boy was speechless. He put his head down and quietly muttered an apology.

Ayame was the first to speak up. "I'm sorry Inuyasha. That must've been hard to deal with."

"Ha. It was a long time ago. It's fine. Besides, I'm a hanyou, remember? I'm used to life being hard." Right as I said that I could smell saltwater in the air. I turned to see Kagome with tears rolling down her face.

"Wh- why!" I yelled.

"You shouldn't be used to it." she said. Tears kept flowing down her face.

'The hell?'

I looked over at Ayame and Kouga. They didn't seem to know what to do. I walked towards Kagome and put my hand on her shoulder.

"What are you talking about? Stop crying Kagome." I said. My hands trembling. "Please."

Still crying she talked with pauses for taking breaths. "You shouldn't be used- to life being hard.- You don't deserve it.- You deserve- to be happy too- being a hanyou- doesn't change that."

'Don't deserve it..' I thought. 'She's crying for me?'

Without thinking I grabbed her chin and pulled it up so I could see her eyes. "Thank you." I whispered. I smiled. "Will you stop crying now?"

She shook her head up and down and wiped her eyes. Looking back up to me she gave me a small smile. I let go off her face and took a step back from her.

'I feel warm. Am I sick?'

My thoughts were stopped when my phone rang from inside my kimono. I let go of Kagome and struggled to make my way out of my dumb uniform, finally I grabbed my phone from the place I'd stuck it in.

"Hello.. Sesshomaru, what!... Yeah.. okay. I'll be there soon."

I turned to look at Kagome. "Hey, can you tell the old man I had to go take care of something at home?"

She was wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. "Sure." she said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, you will. No more crying, right?"

She shook her head, a small smile appearing in her lips.

"Good, tomorrow then. Good luck with the shed Wolf-boy!"

I ran from behind the house and sprinted down the Shrine's steps. 'Why the hell are there so many goddamn steps here?'

Finally reaching the bottom I crossed the empty street and walked over to a small parking lot. Digging my keys out of my robe I opened my 2010 Silver Camaro and drove home.

After driving through the gate, I saw that the garage was open so I just pulled inside and parked- closing it behind me. Coming through the door I was bombarded by my Mother. She had long black hair that she never tied up, no matter how hot it was. And thin pale skin. She grabbed my right ear.

"You do know what tonight is, right?", she said.

"Let go of me!", I yelled. She released me from her grasp.

"You know you're supposed to be careful on these days. I should partially blame your stupid Father for signing you up for an interview today of all days. I'll take it up with him later.. how have your senses been?"

I was cracking my back. It was feeling stiff. "I'm fine, woman. My allergies were acting up before because that damn Shrine is ancient. I swear though, there is no reason for me to have a job. I'm Inuyasha TAKAHASHI."

"Your Father and I know who you are better than anybody. Just because you don't need the money doesn't mean you don't need the experience. Plus, this will help you get over a few things..", she started walking away right then. "Take a shower Yasha. You have dust in your hair."

'She still can't talk to me about it. It's been a year already. Ugh. Screw this.'

I started walking up the stairs toward my room. Stripping out of my ridiculous robe I grabbed some gray sweats and a black beater I headed to the bathroom across the hall. I turned the shower on and stepped right in. The water felt hotter than usual. After about fifteen minutes I stepped out. My back felt a little better, I wiped the fog from the mirrors I saw my changed appearance. My fangs were gone, there were no ears on top my now jet black hair. And my eye had turned into a dark brown.

'Ugh. I feel so exhausted.' I exited the bathroom not wanting to look at my human form, nor did I want anyone else to look at me either. I started walking into my room right before the doorbell rang.

"INUYASHA! Come open the door!" My Mother yelled. I saw her standing at the foot of the stairs, five steps away from the door herself and looked at her like she was lazy.

"Go open the door! It's your Brother, he was out doing some work in front of the house and you shut the garage when you got in SO OPEN THE DOOR!"

"Fine."

I walked down the steps, taking my time and walked to open the door. I was horrified when instead of Sesshomaru- a pair of light brown eyes were staring back at me.

"Uh. Inuyasha is that you?" she said.

'It's Kagome. Fuck. I'm human and Kagome is standing right in front of me!' I was mentally abusing myself as I stood frozen. Sesshomaru walked in behind her, leaving her to stand outside.

"I found her waiting at the gate. She said she had your clothes. I could smell you all over her, so I decided letting her in could do no harm." Said Sesshomaru, he walked away and I could've sworn he had smirked for a split second.

'No harm? The bastard. I'm human and me being exposed was no harm!'

"I hate you." I whispered low enough that he would hear it but Kagome wouldn't. He walked back outside. I turned over to her again, she was standing there just gaping at me. She noticed I saw her staring and quickly looked down.

I sighed. "Come in.", I said. She stepped into the house and I closed the door behind her.

"Wow. Your house is really nice. You don't really need job do you?" She said.

"Thanks. And yea, tell that to my parents." She nodded at me and then looked down at her arms.

"Oh, here!" She handed me my clothes. "You left these at my house."

"Thanks. Hey Kagome listen, could you-"

"HELLO THERE!" My Mother appeared out of no where grabbing Kagome's hands. "And who are you?"

"Um. He-hello, my name is Kagome Higurashi."

"It's so nice to meet you Kagome! You're the first friend on Inuyasha we've seen in months! Please stay for dinner!"

"Wow, that's really nice of you but I have to go pick up my little brother.."

Sesshomaru appeared next to us and turned towards Kagome, "There was a man outside in a blue Mini Cooper who said he went to go pick up a boy named Souta. He said he would come back for you."

"He was my ride.." Said Kagome. She looked suddenly irritated. My Mother looked overjoyed. I wanted to hide under a rock somewhere. And Sesshomaru looked like everything going on was normal. He walked away towards the kitchen.

"This is great! So you can stay! Would you like to call your ride and let them know you are staying?"

Kagome was hesitant, but quickly regained her composure. "Yes. Thank you, I would love to stay for dinner. I just need to call my cousin to make sure my brother gets home safely." She reached for her pockets and her eyes widened in panic.

"I think I left my phone in Roku's car!"

"Here, use this." I reached into my sweats and gave Kagome my red cell phone.

"Thank you."

My mother started walking towards the kitchen behind Sesshomaru leaving Kagome alone with me. Kagome started dialing.

"Hey Miroku.. you idiot, you were supposed to wait!.. Ugh, fine- just make sure you get Souta home. I'm staying here for dinner... because his Mother insisted I do! Just- shut up! I'll call you when I need to be picked up, okay? Okay. Bye." She hung up the phone and handed it back to me. Then there were a few moments of silence, awkward silence.

"Hey Inuyasha." she said. "Are you human?"

"Yes." I said. She just looked at me with her curious eyes. I hesitated. She really shouldn't know so much about me, I'd only met her a few hours ago. But there's no point in hiding now since she'd already seen me.

"When it starts getting dark outside on the night of the new moon I go into my human form."

"Oh..", she said.

"Hey, Kagome.."

"Yes?"

"Could you not tell anyone about this?"

"Oh! Of course! I wasn't going to. This is why you had to come home, right?"

"Yea, I would've told you, if it was anything else. No one else really knows about today, besides my family." Except for Kikyo, she knew.

I looked to Kagome who was now frowning a bit. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Um.. nothing! Just that, well. Your ears changed."

"Yes. Your point?"

"It's just. I liked them is all.. they're cuter when you're a hanyou, okay?"

She thinks they're cute? I looked at her smiling.

"You're a weird girl, you know that? You don't prefer me in this form?" I asked.

"Oh well no, I mean I don't know! I mean. Does it really matter what form you're in? You're still you."

I looked at her confused. Still me? She doesn't care what I am? Why? Kikyo even preferred my human form.

"Kagome-"

"KAGOME!" My mother yelled, cutting me short yet again. She came up grabbing Kagome's hands. "Come! The table is set up. Inuyasha go put on a real shirt."

I was left there to stand alone, absorbing everything that had just happened. Kay. Kagome knows I'm human. I guess that's not the worst. She didn't look freaked out. I actually feel relieved she wasn't freaked out.

I ran upstairs and removed my beater, replacing it with a white button down shirt.

When I arrived in the dining room downstairs I was taken aback. My Father, my giant Father had encompassed Kagome in his arms. My Mother was laughing, even Sesshomaru was grinning at the sight. I was utterly confused as I walked in on the scene.

"Son!" Beamed my Father. "Kagome was telling me about how you kicked a mutt named Kouga! Did you really? We haven't seen any action from you in over a year!"

"You're not mad that I kicked someone in the face?" I asked. "You're actually encouraging this?" Father just grinned at me.

Kagome chimed in. "You also left him there to finish up cleaning that whole shed. He was really mad but Ayame did help him out a bit."

"Heh." I felt pretty cocky about that one. It's what that wolf deserved after what he said to me.

My Father spoke up. "Kagome where will you be attending school this fall?"

"I'll be going to Shikon High, Sir."

"Please call me Inutaisho! And that's the same school Inuyasha will be attending. Hopefully you two may have some classes together."

Kagome looked down a bit flushed. "That would be nice." She said quietly.

My Father turned to look at me. "I'm glad you kicked that wolf, son. But how could you let Kagome get you like that?"

"What?" I said. Completely oblivious to what he was talking about.

My Mother laughed a little and quickly covered her mouth, as my Father continued. "She told us she stabbed with you a fork. I find that astounding."

I turned to glare at Kagome, who was conveniently looking away from me towards Sesshomaru, who was smiling at her.

Wait a second, WHAT? Sesshomaru is _smiling?_ Hell has officially frozen over.

He read my mind, speaking up. "Little brother. I think Rin would like Kagome."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It had been fifteen- twenty minutes at the most and Kagome was being inducted into my family. My parents had always been nice and carefree- but they were picky about who they let in. And Sesshomaru! He doesn't like anybody, why does he want to share Rin with _her?_

'Then again..' I thought looking over at Kagome, who was laughing and talking to my family. She did look right sitting in between us.

I shook my head. It's too early to accept her. I hate my human nights, they made me all soft. Maybe, I looked over to her again and saw as she smiled and laughed amongst my family. She fit.

Dinner flew by faster then I wanted it to. Kagome had called Miroku and he was on the way to pick her up now.

"You can just reheat these." said my Mother as she kissed Kagome on the cheek and handed her a box packed with leftovers from dinner. "And don't forget, you're coming out with us this weekend!"

"I won't, thank you Mrs. Takahashi. I had a lot of fun tonight." My Mother smiled, gave her one last hug and walked inside. I was waiting outside with Kagome for Miroku to pick her up.

"Sorry if tonight was weird for you. They're usually not so perky." I said.

"No, I really did have fun. Your family is very nice Yasha." This time my eyes widened. Yasha? A large gust of wind blew past us and both of our hair was blown everywhere. I tucked mine back into the hood of my jacket and grabbed a strand of her hair that was being blown into her face and silently replace it behind her ear.

"Two can play at that game, Kaggie." My human eyes had just adjusted so I could see her face in the dark. She was looking directly into my eyes. Only to be harshly illuminated by the headlights of a car approaching us.

"That's Miroku. I have to go." She said. "I'll see you tomorrow Inuyasha!"

She started walking away before I grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards me into a half hug. "Goodnight, Kagome. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight." She whispered before running off.

I watched her as she got in the car. She waved goodbye one final time before driving off. Even on the cold summer night I felt warm. Before going to sleep that night I felt an over sizing sense of relief, like I could relax. And for the first time in a while, I was waiting for tomorrow to come fast.

**End of Chapter Two**

Kay dudes! That's all for this one. Please please review! (:

Also I do want to point out to anyone who thinks I might have made our grumpy Hanyou a bit OCC in this chapter that he is HUMAN for part of it. And human Inuyasha is a softy. So yay fluff!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys! I'm SOO sorry for updating much much later then I had initially promised.

After my last update I had my senior prom and then all this end of the year stuff. Basically- I forgot I was writing this.

But I'm back now! I SHALL WRITE MORE! I have tons of ideas ;)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha. Sadly.

**Chapter Three**

Kagome's P.O.V.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

"Ugh" I mumbled as I threw my hand over my alarm clock. Turning my head towards my open window- the sunlight was way too harsh. I pulled my blanket over my head and sneezed. I felt like death. It was so cold in here.

"MOOOOOOM!" I yelled. I heard footsteps, quickly approaching as my door was thrown wide open. I glanced out of one eye to see my Mom smiling in the doorway.

"Good morning Kagome. Why are you yelling?" she asked while walking towards me.

*Sniff* I couldn't help but crying. My head hurt so badly. "Mom I feel horrible!"

"Aw Kagome- was your window open all night?" She walked towards it and tried closing it. It didn't budge.

"SOUTA!" She yelled with a smile on her face. She came and kneeled right down next to the bed and put her warm hand on my cheek. Helped me calm down a bit. What seemed like an hour passed by and my brother appeared in the doorway dressed in his pajamas.

"What do you want Mom?" He said while rubbing his eyes.

"Please close Kagome's window." She said. Souta stumbled silently over to the window in his half asleep state.

"You're burning up Kagome." She said.

"Mmm" I said. Somehow my eyes had closed once again.

"It won't close." said Souta.

"Help move your sister into the guest bedroom. She can't sleep in here until that window is fixed."

Souta dragged me out of bed and helped me as I stumbled out of my room into the guest bedroom. I got into that bed and looked around. Souta went out for a minute and then popped his head back in.

Souta spoke up. "Hey Kagome, Mom has to go out for the whole day. She wants you to get some sleep. I'm gunna go make you some soup and give you some medicine Gramps put out for you, kay? Holler if you need anything sis!"

"Mmmkay thanks Souta." I closed my eyes once again as he left the room. It feels a bit better being in here. The temperature was controlled. I opened my eyes and glanced around the room.

Gramps was actually the one who insisted on designing it when we were renovating every room.

The walls were a dark maroon red and there was a light pink cherry blossom silhouette pattern bordering the walls. There were two desks on each side of the Queen bed and a matching bureau near the window with gorgeous pink drapes, which were currently closed to keep any sunshine out.

For a superstitious old man he sure knew how to put a room together.

It's so beautiful in here. I kept looking around the room till I closed my eyes and drifted off once more.

Inuyasha's P.O.V.:

I walked up the shrine steps in my blood red uniform and stopped at the top. I found it more comfortable now that I had washed it last night.

I smelled metal burning coming from an open window of the house. Not waiting for an invitation I ran into the house and burst into the kitchen. Souta was standing there next to the microwave and his mouth hanging open. He turned to me yelping incoherent nonsense.

I grabbed the burning can of soup and placed it into the sink and proceeded to pour water onto it. I felt something grabbing onto my sleeve.

"INUYASHA THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Souta screamed while holding onto my arm. "Hey are you alright? OH MY GOD YOUR HAND IS BURNED! KAAAAGOME!"

My ears flattened as he yelling. I was about to tell him to shut up before I heard a loud thud from upstairs. We both turned our attention to the door as I heard steps quickly approaching. And there she was. I involuntarily inhaled at the sight of her.

She was sporting loose grey sweats and a long sleeved white t-shirt. Her hair was tied up to the side in a messy bun and she had a green throw blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her face was pale and she looked like she was going to fall over.

"What Souta?" she asked.

I don't think she's noticed me yet..

Souta spoke up just as loud as before. "I WAS MAKING YOU SOUP! CAN! ON FIRE! INUYASHA HELPED! INUYASHA BURNED!"

"Inuyasha?" Kagome turned her face to me and blinked a few times. There was no change in her expression. I walked over to her slowly and placed the back of my hand on her forehead.

"You're burning!" I yelled "Souta why did you call her?"

"Mm your hand is nice and cool.." said Kagome. Her head leaned into my hand as she herself fell towards me. I stopped her fall.

I awkwardly grasped her burning body and turned to glare at Souta.

He spoke softly now to me looking embarrassed. "Uhh.. I thought she could help you with your burn. I forgot she had caught a fever." His eyes were on the ground.

I looked at Kagome. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was heavy. I sighed and picked her up in my arms.

"Where is her room?" I asked Souta.

"It's the one upstairs all the way on the right- but her window is broken. So take her into the guest bedroom, it's right before her room on the left side.. do you need me to do anything?"

"Just go tell that old geezer I'm not late or skipping out on work."

"Sure thing." Souta walked out.

I walked up the stairs with Kagome in my arms. She clutched onto my uniform. I turned right at the top of the stairs and walked into the guest bedroom. I set her down on the bed and covered her with a blanket. Her breathing was getting heavier and her forehead was dripping with sweat as she frowned.

I walked out into the hallway and looked around for the bathroom. Once I found it I entered and grabbed the two small towels from the metal bar. I doused one with cold water and drenched out the excess water. I walked back to the guest bedroom, taking the dry towel I wiped the sweat from Kagome's fever off and folded the cold wet towel into a squared and put it on her forehead.

My Mom did this to me when I got fevers as a kid.. I hope it works.

I kept rewetting the towel as Kagome's fever burned through it. After about fifteen minutes of doing that her fever seemed to cool down a bit. She was no longer frowning and looked like she was sleeping peacefully. I wiped her forehead dry and headed downstairs.

I reached the kitchen and saw Souta sitting at the table stabbing a fork into an apple.

"What's with this family and stabbing things?" I asked. He turned around to look at me.

"Sorry" he said. "It's a nervous compulsion. How's Kagome?"

"Her fever went down a little bit. Yo kid, mind if I use the kitchen?"

"Sure, go ahead. I'll be back in a few minutes." With that he walked out.

I went into a few cabinets trying to figure out where everything was. I placed a silver pot on the stove and heat it up and threw in some olive oil. Quickly chopping up some leeks I found in the fridge I threw them in there as well. I added in some broth and some salt. I covered up the top and left it to heat up.

I feel like a butler.. I hope I made it the right way.. I grew up watching the cooks at home.

Souta walked back into the kitchen.

"Hey Yasha." He said.

Yasha? This family is way too comfortable with me.

"Do you have any medicine for Kagome?" I asked.

"Yeah actually!" He pulled out a green bottle from his pocket and handed it to me. "Gramps told me to give her some after she ate something."

"I'll give it to her. Did you tell him I'm not skipping out?"

"I already told Gramps you were helping me out in the house. He said Kouga will work in the Shrine with him and you can fix Kagome's broken window and come out when you're done."

"Keh. Fine just give me tools." I said. At least I don't have to cross paths with that wolf for a while.

"I have to leave for Sango's soon, Roku is picking me up. I'll be back early since Kagome is sick. So about an hour. My Mom is out the whole day and Gramps has some orders coming in. So someone needs to be in the house.. I put the tools on Kagome's desk in her room."

"Fine I'll stay. She's probably be sleeping anyways. I'll have the window fixed before you get back."

"Thanks Yasha! Later."

He walked out the door and I turned my attention back to the soup. Looking over my shoulders I took the top off and sniffed it to check if it needed anything else added to it. I put in some salt and turned off the burner.

Mom invited Kagome out with us this weekend. I wonder if she'll be better by then. Maybe it would be better if she didn't have to come..

The soup was now in a bowl and I put a glass of water and the medicine all on a tray. I carried it up the stairs and placed it on the desk inside the guest bedroom. Looking over to Kagome I saw she was still asleep. I decided not to wake her up.

Judging from my first impression of her she'd attack me if I woke her up.

I crouched down next to her bed and put my hand on her forehead. Her fever had gone down significantly. She looked so peaceful sleeping.

I just keep looking at her for a few minutes. Once I realized what I was doing I quickly got up.

Alright, time to fix that damn window.

Kagome's P.O.V.

Mmm. I feel so much better.

I rubbed my eyes and then opening them. Turning to the desk I saw there was a tray of food laid out. Pushing myself up I took the lid off and the aroma of soup flowed into the room. I grabbed the bowl and start drinking it. It was really hot but it tasted good. After I was done I realized there was a bottle of medicine on the tray so I read the description on the back and choked down a pill with some water. I felt a little bit better.

Did Souta make that? What was going on before I fell asleep..

Oh God. Inuyasha was there! Is he still here? His hand was burnt!

I grabbed the blanket and threw it off in a hurry and jumped out of bed heading towards the door. I turned out into the hallway and ran into my room and there he was. His back was turned to me and he was standing at my window.

Still not feeling entirely well I caught the frame of my door.

"Inuyasha?" I spoke out. He turned to look at me, his eyes wide in surprise with two screwdrivers in his mouth and a hammer in his hands. My head became dizzy again and I could feel myself falling towards the floor. I tried to grab the frame of the door but couldn't.

I was caught. I looked up to meet a pair of golden eyes.

"You idiot! Who told you to get out of bed?" He was shouting and I could feel every word hitting my head hard. It hurt.

"Your hand. It was burnt right?" I asked. Inuyasha held me up so I could steady myself. He put his hand up to me and I examined it. There was a small pink mark that looked like it had been healing for a week or more.

"Keh. I'm not a fragile human remember? I'm fine- unlike you. Go take your medicine and go back to sleep."

"I took it already.. did you put medicine and food out for me?"

He became silent and looked at me with a poker face. "The old man says I got to fix this window here. Just go to sleep so you can get better by the weekend, okay? Go."

"Kay." I turned around and headed out the door. "Hey Inuyasha?"

"What?" He barked.

"Thank you." I said. I walked out of the room while hearing a muttered 'Keh' behind me.

I went back into the guest bedroom and wrapped my small green blanket around my shoulders. Then I grabbed the tray and took it downstairs into the kitchen. I took the dishes and washed them over with cold water before I loaded them into the dishwasher. I think that medicine was starting to take affect. I felt a whole lot better.

Huh. I wonder where everyone else is. Maybe they're somewhere in the Shrine.

I made my way back upstairs and turned into my room. Inuyasha was no where to be found. The window was closed shut.

He fixed it. Where did he go?

I walked over to my desk and pulled open a drawer and put some chap-stick on and then walked over to my window. I opened it up and stuck my head out to see if I could find anyone around in the Shrine.

I looked down and saw Kouga and Gramps walking around. Kouga was holding two big boxes and Gramps was holding a clipboard writing something on it. A breeze went by my window and Koga raised his head in my direction.

"Hey Kagome! How are you feeling?" He was waving in my direction.

Wow, he's only using one hand to hold those boxes. He's stronger than he looks. "Hey Kouga! I feel a lot better! How are you?"

"Doing alright. It's not too hard around here. It'd be much better if I saw you around more often though. Do you feel well enough to come outside?" He asked while he threw me a shiny grin.

I was just about to answer before I felt a warm hand on my shoulders. I turned around to see Inuyasha with a scowl on his face. He pushed into me a little and stuck his head out of the window as well.

"She's still gotta rest you mongrel. Any idiot could see that." He yelled.

Kouga looked at Inuyasha in frustration. "At least I'm doing my job. Unlike some freeloading pup."

Inuyasha shifted forward like he was about to jump out of my window at Kouga. I grabbed his sleeve and returned my attention to Kouga.

"Thanks for asking Kouga- but I think I'll stay inside and get completely better before I come out."

He redirected his attention and smiled at me. "Alright Kagome. Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything." He winked at me and walked around the house out of sight. I turned around to see Inuyasha towering over me. He looked pissed.

"Why don't you tell him to fuck off?" he said.

"What? He's nice to me." I said.

"Point? Even if he is you don't like it."

I felt my face burn up. "Who are YOU to tell me what I do and do not like?"

Inuyasha walked up and put his face right into mine. Close enough for me to see just how deep his eyes really were. His hot breath was too close to my face. "I can smell lies Kagome." He grabbed my chin and pulled it up to meet his face.

"I can also hear your heartbeat." He said and then smirked. "It's speeding up."

My heart felt like it would pop out of my chest. Crap! No he just said he could hear it. Calm down girl. I closed my eyes for a few seconds trying to get a hold of myself and think of a decent response. I didn't understand what was happening. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Inuyasha still gazing at me. I heard footsteps.

"Hey guys!" It was Souta. He walked into the room with his black uniform on. Inuyasha was on the other side of the room and I was now sitting on my bed biting my nails.

"What were you guys doing?" He asked.

"NOTHING!" I screamed into Souta's face. He just looked at us funny and took a few steps back.

"Kay then." He said. "Oh Yasha- Gramps said he could use your help in the Shrine." He started walking out of the room but turned around to look at me. "And Ayame and Sango are downstairs for you Kagome. They wanted to see if you were okay."

"Thanks Souta." He walked out. The room was silent and still.

Inuyasha coughed. "I'm gunna go get back to work."

"Kay.."

We both walked down the stairs together. Before he could go back out Sango and Ayame rushed up to me.

Sango spoke first. "How do you feel Kagome? Souta told me you caught a fever."

"Yeah I feel a lot better now. Inuyasha helped. Sango this is Inuyasha, Inuyasha this is Sango."

They both greeted each other. Ayame started talking. "So Inuyasha, what exactly were you helping Kagome with hm?" She said while throwing a wink his way.

I blushed and stayed quiet while Inuyasha had a smirk on his face. "It depends. What do you think I was doing?"

I could feel my face burning up. "BACK TO WORK YOU GO!" I said as I pushed Inuyasha out the door. He was laughing. I was about to shut the door in his face before he grabbed it. "You should be careful, blushing that much might bring your fever back." He said.

"GET OUT!" I pushed the door shut and turned around to meet my two best friends laughing at me.

"Shut up you guys." I said.

Ayame walked over and looked at me seriously. "Do you like him Kagome?"

"What! No, why would you think that?" I said. She grabbed my hand and started speaking again.

"What I mean to really ask is do you not like Kouga?"

"Oh. Well yes I like him, but not in that way. Why?" Ayame looked down in the ground and Sango came up behind her and started laughing.

"Ayame finally found a boy she likes!" She shouted.

I smiled and laughed. "REALLY? You usually think every boy is cute and then lose interest after five minutes Ayame."

"Hey stop jumping to conclusions." She said.

Sango didn't miss a beat. "Like YOU'RE one to tell us-" Ayame cut her off and looked only at me.

"When you were gone yesterday and I helped him clean out the shed we were talking. I'd like to get to know him better."

"Ha! Don't worry about that. We'll take care of it."

Sango came over and put her arm into my own. Ayame looked at both of us.

"What are you two going to do?" She asked looking at us skeptically.

Sango and I looked at each other and grinned then we looked back at Ayame. "Don't worry babe. Just know that once we're done his attention will be directed at YOU."

**End of Chapter Three**

Another chapter done! PLEASE **REVIEW**.


	4. Chapter 4

I updated sooner than I did the last time! And this chapter is longer! Which just shows that I'm getting more dedicated;) Even more so now that I actually have more shit to do since the summer has official ended. *Tears.

I'd like to give a shout-out to **"glon morski"**. She reviewed TWICE. She also gave me her honest opinion and gave me some ideas for this chapter so yay her!

Also for everyone else who reviewed on my previous chapters I'd like to thank:

kittychic0895

booklover2thextreme

Sweetish venus

Grim Reaper Daughter

Blue229101

I get really sad when I get updates on my email address of how many people favorite this story and/or add it to their alerts and then end up not reviewing.

I don't get to know what all you lovely readers think! And I do love you all because you actually take the time to READ what I write. So please review(: I promise to mention you in my next chapter if you do! In the section that I've been ranting in- which needs to stop.. now.

Let's get this show on the road, shall we?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Inuyasha. Sadly.

**Chapter Four**

Inuyasha's P.O.V.

'Ugh. So bright.' I turned my head over towards my window and saw the sun pouring in. My door was opened up and I could hear noises coming from the kitchen. I turned myself over and rubbed my eyes, my ears folded down towards my head blocking the noise out. I slowly got up and opened my eyes.

'My room is such a mess.' I thought. I looked around to see half my closet poured onto the floor. There were some explicit magazines peeking out from under the bed, which I kicked under and out of sight once I stood up.

'I'll clean when Mom bugs me enough.' I thought.

I made my way over to the door and shut it closed behind me. Walking down the stairs the smell of butter flowed around me. I walked into the kitchen to see Rin holding a pan in her right hand and a bowl full of beaten eggs that she was pouring into the pan in her other hand.

I leaned up against the kitchen counter and waved. "Morning Rin."

She looked up at me in confusion.

"What?" I asked.

She giggled. "So I see you can change. You never wake up this early. Even if you do you never think you're good enough to sit down here with us."

"Shut up." I said.

She continued. "Oh come on! You know it's true! You never-"

Before I had a chance to blink Sesshomaru showed up besides her and took the pan out of her hands and slowly shook it around while adjusting the heat.

"Rin, the eggs." He said as he handed the pan back over to her.

While her attention was diverted I walked towards the breakfast table and grabbed an apple, which I promptly bit into. Sesshomaru walked back over to me and sat down at the table. A few minutes passed by and I spoke up first.

"You're really trusting her to cook?" I asked.

Sesshomaru didn't move his gaze from the window. He only shifted his right arm under the table and pulled out a red fire extinguisher for a brief second. Then he slid his arm back with the device and turned his gaze on me.

"Gotcha."

I got up from the table to throw my apple core out. Sesshomaru spoke.

"How is your new job?" He asked.

I walked back over to the table to sit down once again. "It's going fine.. why do you care?" I said.

"I don't. I need to have a response ready if Father were to ask me. Don't bother feeling special."

"Good to know we're on the same page." I said as I walked away back towards the front of the house to where the stairs led up.

I was almost into my room as I heard my Mom walking out of my room towards me. I turned around to face her.

"Inuyasha is Kagome still planning to eat out with us this tomorrow night?" She asked. Just like her too, jumping right to the point.

"Good morning to you too." I said only to receive a glare from the woman who put me into this world. And constantly reminded me that she could take me out of it.

"Yes she is. What of it?" I said.

"Oh dear, your Father and I have to go to a business dinner at the Tendo's this tomorrow. I just heard from them, we would cancel but this is an important meeting."

"That's okay, I'll just tell Kagome that it's canceled."

"No! We're the ones who are busy- you're not. You will take her out to dinner. Rin and Sesshomaru will join you. It's on your Father and me so no excuses." I just nodded my head as she walked down the stairs. Before I shut the door of my room I could hear Rin clapping her hands together and laughing. What I'd give to see Sesshomaru's face right now.

**About an hour later…**

I shut my car door and crossed the street towards the stairs of the Higurashi Shrine. Spring was flowing in so there were cherry blossoms blowing around everywhere. I let my senses take it all in and walked up slower than usual.

I reached the top of the steps and turned right to see Kagome swaying back and forth on her feet, her hands were locked together against her chest and she was smiling. Standing beside her was Koga.

I could feel a small growl erupt from my chest.

Kagome's P.O.V.

'God I wish I would've planned something better!' I looked at Koga and realized how screwed I was.

Sango had slept over last night so we could think of a way for Koga to notice Ayame. Maybe even ask her out. But then we started watching food network and then the baking.. oh the baking. We got nothing accomplished! I turned to look at Koga who was just rambling on about something. I had no idea what we were even talking about at this point. He grabbed a loose strand of my hair and placed it behind my left ear.

"So?" He said.

I looked at him not knowing what he was expecting me to say.

"I asked if you could come out for dinner tomorrow Kagome? Uh you know- if your fever has cleared down and you're well enough to."

'WHAT? What had we been talking about? Did he just ask me out? No! This isn't going according to plan.'

I was just about to open my mouth before someone behind me placed a hand onto my shoulder.

"She can't tomorrow night, she already has plans." Said the voice. I turned around to see Inuyasha glaring towards Koga.

"I don't remember asking you anything mutt. I believe I was talking to Kagome. And last time I checked she could speak for herself." Said Koga. He turned his head to look back at me.

Usually he would've been right. But right now I couldn't speak for myself. I didn't know what to say. I looked over towards Inuyasha who hadn't loosened his grip on my shoulder and continued to glare ahead. Then I turned to Koga who was smiling at me sweetly, waiting for a response.

"Um" I said.

My voice was trembling; I didn't want to hurt Koga's feelings. He really is a sweet guy. Inuyasha being here breathing down my neck wasn't exactly helping either.

Before I was able to speak again Koga grabbed my right hand within his own. He was warm.

"It's alright Kagome" he spoke. "If you're already busy this weekend it's no big deal. I'm willing to wait, so you don't have to feel bad." He winked at me while I sighed in relief.

"I have to finish up some work, unlike someone else." He shot Inuyasha a glace. "But I'll see you around Kagome."

And with that he just walked off. I relaxed a bit. I still didn't have a plan but at least I was saved from a date with Koga. For the time being at least. I turned a little towards the right only to head first into Inuyasha glaring down at me.

"Why couldn't you just say no?" He growled.

I hesitated for a second before returning his angry gaze. "It's not that easy!"

"Uh. Yes, it is. Are you really that dumb?"

"NO!"

"See! See how easy that was? It's just a word stupid."

"I'm not stupid you jerk! At least Koga cares about how I feel!"

I turned away and started walking towards the house when I felt a hand on my wrist. Inuyasha lightly pulled my back towards him. I was glaring at him and trying to pull out of his grasp. His gaze was on the ground.

"My parents can't make dinner tomorrow night. Sesshomaru and his girlfriend Rin are coming instead. I wanted to know if you were okay with that?"

I stopped struggling out of his grasp. 'He wanted to know if I would be comfortable?' I thought. I grabbed his wrist with my free hand and he turned his head up towards me.

"Thank you." I smiled. "I'm fine with it."

"Fine with what?" It only took a second for me to register that it wasn't Inuyasha who had said anything to me. I look behind him and Roku was standing there.

We both turned towards him. "Roku! What are you doing here?" I yelled while hugging him. I pulled back while he put his hand out to shake Inuyasha's.

"Hey Miroku." He said.

"Hello Inuyasha. So Kagome, what are you okay with?" He asked looking at me.

"Oh Inuyasha and I were supposed to have dinner with his parents this weekend. But they can't come so we're going with his brother and brother's girlfriend instead."

"Hold on Kagome, you're going on a date?" He yelled.

I choked. "No it's not a date just dinner!" I said.

"A double date no less!" He kept on going. "This is inexcusable. You must be accompanied on your first date in case Inuyasha here has any hidden intentions."

Inuyasha looked flushed. "Hey! Didn't you hear her- wait. First date?" He turned his head towards me. "You've never been on a date Kagome?"

I looked at him and my breath was caught in my throat. Crap. I turned to glare and Miroku who was still going on.

"I've been on a date before!" I yelled. "He just meant I've never been on a date with you before!"

"So this IS a date?" Asked Inuyasha with a smirk on his face.

"No that's not what I meant!" I yelled.

"Oh this is terrible." Miroku wouldn't stop. "I shall accompany you and bring a date of my own. End of discussion."

"It's not a date Roku!" I yelled. "And what girl in her right mind would agree to go out with you?"

"I'll ask Lady Sango to accompany me. She'll understand and agree if it comes to your safety." I snorted. Like hell Sango would agree to going out with him.

Miroku turned to Inuyasha and put his arm around him. "You wouldn't mind if Sango and I were to tag along now, Inuyasha?

"I don't care who comes. My Mother is gunna bitch at me if I don't keep my word so that's all I'm concerned about." He said. "Bring whoever you want."

'That still doesn't mean Sango would agree to going with Roku.' I thought. 'Who else would I want to bring anyways?..'

And that's when it hit me.

"I can bring anyone? Even more than one person?" I asked again just to make sure.

"I just said you could woman. Damn." I jumped forward to give him a hug. When I let go and backed up he looked really confused.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" I yelled while running away towards the shed.

The plan is back in motion.

"Does this mean we can come?" Miroku yelled from behind me.

"YES!" I yelled and turned around to keep running.

I slowed down as I reached the shed and walked through the open door to see Koga stocking shelves with antiques. He turned around and smiled at me.

"Hey Kagome, what's up?"

"Hey Koga! Would you like to come out for dinner tomorrow night with a few friends?" I asked.

Koga's smile grew and he put down the boxes to walk over to me.

"Kagome that would be great! I'm so happy you asked." He said. "I'd love to."

I smiled at him. "Okay great!"

I walked out of the shed and ran into the house smiling. The plan was finally back in motion and I had some calls to make.

"Come on Sango!" I yelled into the receiver before flopping down on my bed.

I heard a groan on the other side. "You know how that lecher is Kagome! I mean no offense him being your cousin and everything but. He'll try to pull stuff the whole night!"

"Please Sango! You know I would never ask you unless I needed help. This is for Ayame. You said you would help me with this." I waited on the phone to hear a response from her. It was silent for about 30 seconds before I heard her sigh in defeat.

"Okay fine. But if Miroku tries anything I'll slap him- I won't hesitate." She said.

I smiled. "Thank you Sango! I have to call Ayame now to let her know the good news! Also lets go shopping tomorrow morning together before the dinner. We have to make sure she looks amazing."

"Alright. I'll be over tomorrow morning. Bye Kagome."

I clicked the end button on my cell phone and then pushed the four and the send button to call Ayame next.

"Hey Kagome" she answered. "What's up?"

"Hey Ayame! Sango and I are planned a dinner tomorrow night and you HAVE to come."

"Okay cool I'm free tomorrow night. Where are we going?"

'Oh crap, Inuyasha didn't give me any specifics yet.'

"Uhh.. it's a surprise! We're going shopping tomorrow morning too."

"Haha alright Kagome. I can meet you the mall at eleven? I'm working late tonight watching my neighbors kid so I don't want to wake up too early tomorrow."

"Eleven is fine!" I said. "We'll meet you at the mall kay?"

"Sounds good. I gotta go drop of Kohaku and your brother at the dojo soon so I'll text you. Later Kagome."

"Yup, bye!"

Woo! Ayame is on board. I clicked the number three on my phone and called Sango again.

"What's up Kagome? I have to teach a class in like fifteen minutes so quickly."

"Alright, I called Ayame and she can come. I didn't tell her that Koga is going to be there because I want her to be surprised so don't mention anything about any of the guys coming."

"Why does it have to be a surprise?" She asked.

"You know Ayame, if she knew he was going to be there she'd get all nervous and freak out tomorrow while we all got ready. This way she'll be calm before and excited when she gets to dinner."

"Good point. Okay, I won't say anything to her. I can't wait to teach my class, I have to burn off all those cupcakes we ate last night."

"Haha.. yeah. They were good."

"Yup. We should make some more again. Anyways, I have to get ready for class."

"Alright, bye Sango." I said.

"Bye Kagome." I closed the phone shut.

I lifted myself up on my bed and thought the plan over wondering if there were any loose strings.

'Nah. It's all good.' I thought. I jumped off of bed and walked downstairs.

Roku was standing in the kitchen pouring boiling water into a cup of ramen.

"Hey Kagome."

"Hey Roku."

"Thanks for letting me tag along. I do want to make sure that you're safe around Inuyasha for the night."

"I know Roku, but it's not a date so you really didn't have to worry. But this is going to work out for the best anyways." I said.

"Really?" he asked. "How come?"

"Well I invited Ayame and Koga as well. Ayame has a thing for Koga so maybe they'll get a chance to talk over dinner."

"Did you ask Inuyasha if Koga could come?" He asked.

"He said I could invite whoever I wanted."

"It wouldn't hurt to make sure.. anyways how do you think I should ask Sango out for tomorrow? Should I ask her with flowers when she drops Souta off tonight?" He asked while taking out a pair of chopsticks.

"You don't have to worry about that Roku, I already told her about tomorrow." I said. I picked up a pear off the kitchen counter and starting throwing it up and catching it.

"Aw man! Why Kagome? It would've made a stronger statement if I asked her myself!" He whined.

"Roku, if you asked her she would've said no. I had to beg her to agree to coming tomorrow night."

Roku sulked. "Does she really dislike me that much?" He asked.

"It's not you she dislikes, just your perverted habits." I said. "I bet if you kept your hands off her and let her know you she might actually like you."

Roku scoffed. "Where's the fun in that?"

I just shook my head at him and put the pear down.

"Do you really think she'd like me if I didn't touch her?" Roku asked. I looked up at him and saw a serious expression on his face.

"I can't guarantee that she'd like you, but she won't slap or yell at you. And she would actually bother talking to you." I said.

"Hmm. Interesting. I'll try it tomorrow night, I won't touch her and see how it goes."

"Ha" I said. "That's a first. I bet she'll be surprised."

"I'll ignore that- what time are we all meeting up tomorrow?"

"Damn, I still don't know. I'll go ask Inuyasha. Could you make some ramen for me too Roku?"

"Yeah sure." I started walking out. "Oh Kagome" said Roku.

"What?" I asked.

"Thank you for asking her to come with me."

"Don't mention it." I said and walked out.

The Sakura trees around the Shrine were all in bloom and it smelled beautiful outside. I walked around to the side of the house and spotted Inuyasha standing in front of the Sacred Tree. I walked up behind him.

"How old is this tree?" He asked.

'I guess his senses let him know I'm coming.' I thought while I walked up to his side.

"Gramps said that it's been here for generations. I'm not exactly sure how old it is, why do you ask?"

"Don't know. I just get this weird feeling looking at it."

"Oh. Okay then." I said. "Hey Inuyasha, what's the plan for tomorrow night? Where are we going and when are we meeting up?"

He turned away from the tree to look at me.

"My parents recommended La Mezzaluna. Does that sound alright?"

"Wow, that place just opened a while ago. I heard it took months just to reserve a table there." I said shocked.

"My parents friends own the restaurant. If you don't like it we can always go somewhere else." He said.

"No no that place is fine!" I said raising my hands in the air. "I just don't know if I have anything to wear."

"Ha!" Inuyasha scoffed at me. "Like it matters."

I watched him from the corner of my eyes. He was scratching his head relentlessly. Almost like a dog..

I coughed. "What time tomorrow? Should we all just meet there?" I asked him.

"Uhh. I think around 7 would be a good time. And we can meet wherever- it doesn't really matter, it's not a huge deal."

"Okay, do you want to meet here and then we can all drive over at the same time?" I asked.

"Sure that's fine."

"Okay! We'll meet at the Shrine tomorrow at 6:30!" I said. I was about to walk away when Inuyasha grabbed my arm.

"Kagome, who did you invite?" He asked.

Oh no. Well he had to find out one way or the other. "Well.. um. Besides Sango and Miroku I invited Ayame and.."

"And who?" He asked.

I whispered Koga's name very low but his dog-ears picked it up clearly.

"YOU WHAT? You invited that wolf along? Why the hell would you do that?" said Inuyasha.

"Relax! It's not like I did it purposely to annoy you-"

"Well you might as well have you idiot!"

"Will you shut up and listen! I did it because Ayame likes him!"

Inuyasha's ears tweaked up when I said that. The anger flushed out of his face and his voice leveled down in response.

"Ayame likes him?" he said. I nodded my head in response.

"Well if Ayame likes him then why doesn't she just ask him out? Why do I have to suffer?"

"It's not that easy Inuyasha. Girls can't just ask a guy out- it's weird."

He scoffed. "Feh. Why?"

"It just is! Either way it doesn't matter because you're going to deal with him tomorrow!"

"Heh. And what if I don't feel like it?" He said.

"You will because if you don't I'll tell your Mom I had a horrible time." All the color in his face flushed out.

"You wouldn't." He said.

"Oh.. I SOO would!"

He crossed his arms together and turned away from me like a child who didn't get the toy he wanted. I laughed.

"What?" he barked.

"Nothing, just. Thank you for not freaking out about this."

"Heh, you ain't welcome. I'm still not gunna be nice to him tomorrow night."

"You don't even have to talk to him, just don't be a jerk and ruin dinner." I said.

"Feh." That was all he said before he picked up a pot with some sutras on it and started walking in the direction of the shed. "I'll see you tomorrow night. I don't work Saturday or Sundays."

"Kay! Later Inuyasha." I started walking back into the house.

I walked into the kitchen and Roku was still there eating his ramen and I picked up the bowl he'd prepared for me and dug in.

"Hey Roku" I said, my mouth full of noodles. "Why are ya here today?" I asked.

"Sango drops off Souta after class everyday right?" he said. "I'm waiting to see her, it's not like I have anything else to do right now anyways."

I sighed.

"You're such a perv." I said. Roku was about to protest when I felt my cell phone vibrating in my pocket.

I stuck up one finger towards Roku and answered my phone without looking at the caller ID.

"Hey Kagome?" said the voice. It was Ayame.

"Hey Ayame, what's up?"

"I'm really sorry Kagome but I can't make dinner tomorrow night." She said.

'WHAT?' I thought. 'No, this can't be happening- the plan!'

My voice cracked a little bit while I tried to keep myself calm. "Um- but. Well, why not?"

"I was dropping Kohaku and your brother off at the dojo and one of the Mother's came up to me and asked if I could watch her children tomorrow night. I was about to tell her that I had plans but she explained to me that her Sister was in the hospital and she had no one to watch over her kids, she sounded upset and I felt really bad so I said I'd do the job." She said.

I tried to think of a way to respond to her. I couldn't tell her to cancel her job- that would just sound mean.

She continued. "I know you had this all planned out and I'm sorry for bailing on you Kagome, but I really think I should do this instead."

"No, um. No- It's fine Ayame, this isn't your fault. I'll just figure something else out for later" I said. I bit down on my lower lip.

"Thanks so much Kagome! I'll talk to you later I have to go right now. Thanks for not flipping out on me! Later!"

"Uhuh." I said as I put the phone off and back into my pocket.

"Shit." I placed my hands into my head. Roku spoke up.

"What's wrong Kagome?" he said.

"I'm totally screwed. Ayame can't come tomorrow." I said. "Uhh! I should've planned this out better before inviting Koga. I should just go talk to them." I stood up ready to walk outside before Gramps walked inside the door.

"Where are you off to Kagome?" he asked. Being nosy, as usual.

"I need to talk to Koga and Inuyasha!" I said as I hurried outside.

"They're gone Kagome!" He yelled after me.

I ran back inside. "What! Where did they go?"

"I asked them to drop off some packages at the post office and told them they could go home after that. There wasn't much work today you know." He said.

I groaned and looked at the ground searching for more options. I couldn't call either one of them because I didn't have their numbers.

"Will they be here tomorrow morning?" I asked Gramps.

"No this weekend is off. They'll be working a lot during next week to prepare for the festival at the end of the summer. They both did say that they would meet you tomorrow evening." He said.

'I couldn't even cancel!' I thought. 'Ugh this sucks. Now I have to go through with tomorrow! It's going to be horrible!'

I walked back into the house and up into my room where no one could bother me. Taking out my phone I started a text message to Sango since she couldn't answer her phone during class.

"Hey Sango. We have an unexpected problem in the plan- Ayame can't make it anymore tomorrow. Please text me back. –Kagome."

I dropped backwards into my bed and looked up towards the ceiling.

'What am I going to do?'

**End of Chapter Four**

Okay! There is it. I'll have the next one up soon, probably by next Friday if I can.

I know a bunch of people probably think I've been moving really fast through the other chapters so I tried to slow it down a bit in this one- let me know if you think it might be too slow!

I hope you enjoyed it and I would love to hear what you all think so please please push the button below and reviewww! :D

I apologize if I've made any mistakes- if you point them out I'll be sure to go back and edit this. I read it over the best I could and multiple times.

Thank you for reading!

P.S.- a little teaser for the next chapter… enter the little fox demon everyone loves… SHIPPO! ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guysss! I'm baaack.

First off I'd like to thank all my **reviewers**. You are the ones who truly motivate me with your positive and usually insightful feedback to keep writing so thank you to:

kittychic0895

Inu'sgir4ever

glon morski

OneAcquaintedWithTheNight

ashinat crimson flames

aerokite

katelynhonky

MidnightFlame325

Also thank you for all the people who subscribed and favorited my story! I love you all. :)

Hehe. :D this chapter is going to be fun to write.

I want to warn you to get ready for things to get weird.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Inuyasha. Sadly.

**Chapter Five**

Inuyasha's P.O.V.

**5:45 P.M. Saturday**

I stood opposite from the huge mirror planted onto the wall and tried to keep still. Sesshomaru was standing right next to me and Rin was going between the both of us while holding at least a dozen different ties.

She kept rushing back between both of us on her tiptoes putting ties up against our chests trying to make a decision. I closed my eyes waiting for it to be over. Under the influence of my Mother she was trying to make us look our best for tonight.

"I don't get why this is such a huge deal, we're just going out to eat." I said.

Sesshomaru looked straight ahead showing no signs of responding to me. Rin was holding up a green tie near his torso and switched it with a pale blue on. She handed him the pale blue one and he put it around his neck. She turned to look at me and just sighed.

"Sess can you get me a stool please?" she asked him sweetly. He walked out of the room and turned right into the hallway shutting the door behind him. Once he left Rin came up to me taking the same green tie and passing it across my chest with another white one for a few minutes.

"You wouldn't get it Inuyasha. This may not mean much to you, but your Mother- your whole family cares a lot about you," she said. "They've seen you struggling through the past year-"

"I haven't been struggling Rin." I said gritting my teeth together.

"Okay sure. But it's like you haven't even been around for a whole year Inuyasha! But now you're finally back, you're talking again. Your parents think it has to do with Kagome and-"

I cut her off again. "She's got nothing to do with it!" I yelled.

She sighed. "Well it doesn't really matter how you came back, it just matters that you are. But your parents don't want to see you fade away again, so they want things to go as best as they can for you." She finally handed me the white tie, it had two small red slashes against the bottom right side.

"Keh. This doesn't even relate." I scoffed.

Rin put her hands on her waist and looked at me seriously. "Inuyasha when was the last time you ate out?"

"When-"

Shit. I had no idea. She was right. I'd spent the whole year inside the house. Whenever the family went out I just ate whatever the cooks made at home or leftovers. When I bothered to eat. When was the last time I had ramen? I looked back at Rin with nothing to say.

"It might not mean much to you, but it means something to them."

I nodded my head in response. I didn't know what to say. Sesshomaru walked back in and put the stool on the ground next to Rin. I put the tie Rin gave me around my neck. She stood up on the stool and started tying up Sesshomaru's tie and adjusting it around his collar. Once she was done, she came over in front of me and did the same.

"Alright! Now you guys look spiffy! Inuyasha when was the last time you brushed your hair? I'll go get ready and then we can leave for the Shrine! I can't wait to meet Kagome, Inuyasha!"

I nodded my head to her and she headed out of the room. As soon as she walked out the door both of us started loosening our ties. Rin isn't too good with this stuff even though she tries. If I weren't part demon I would've suffocated by now.

"You heard everything didn't you?" I asked Sesshomaru. He didn't respond. "It doesn't take that long to get a stool."

Sesshomaru turned his head towards me. "She wanted to talk to you privately."

"Feh. You're such a good boyfriend." I teased him in a flat tone.

Sesshomaru turned away from me without responding and walked out the door but I was pretty sure I caught a small glimpse of him smirking.

I was left alone in the room. I turned back towards the mirror and looked at myself. I started combing my fingers through my hair and my hand got stuck in the tangled mess. Shit.

Kagome's P.O.V.

**6:00 P.M. Saturday**

I was sitting on my bed in my sweats and a tank drying my hair with a towel. Sango walked in with two hangers that were holding our dresses.

"I still don't understand why you didn't just get that first dress Kagome. It looked amazing on you!" She said. She spread out the dresses on the other side of my bed.

"I already told you Sango- I can't look amazing, I just have to look good enough to eat at that restaurant and nothing above. If I dress up too much Kouga might get the wrong idea."

"Oh and that fact that he's coming out on a date with us tonight won't impact his ideas at all?"

"It is not a date, he knows that. It is just dinner with friends, IF this were a date Roku would be your knight in shining armor."

I saw a horrified expression on her face before I let the towel engulf my head to dry my hair. I moved it off a little so my face was visible.

"We'll just have to plan something else later with Ayame. Do some damage control." I said.

"Yeah, okay." She walked over to my bedside and turned my clock towards her. It read 6:02 p.m. "What time is everyone getting here?" she asked.

"Oh gosh it's already past 6! They'll be here at 6:30! We need to hurry!"

Sango and I ran around my room. She stripped down to her underwear and started putting her dress on while I loosely starting blow-drying my hair. She got her dress on and plugged in my straightner and starting working on her own hair.

For the next fifteen minutes we quickly worked around each other. Doing each other's makeup and helping pick out accessories.

Once finished we stood together in front of my floor long mirror and looked at the final products.

Sango's hair was straight and up in a high ponytail with her bangs combed down straight over her forehead. She was wearing a dark blue dress that had a square neckline and was sleeveless. It ended at her mid thighs. And her accessories were diamond stud earrings and a silver bracelet. She looked stunning! Though simple, the dress hugged her curves perfectly and her hair pulled so up gave her an edge but also allowed you to see the full heart shape of her face.

"You look amazing Sango! Roku's gunna have a hard time keeping his hands off of you." I laughed.

Sango turned around and frowned at me. "Don't say that! You'll jinx me."

I still laughed and she giggled a bit and loosened up. She turned away from the mirror and looked me up and down.

"Ooo you're in so much trouble Kagome." She said.

I bit my bottom lip. "Why? Is there something wrong with my dress?" I looked down and started examining it closely to see if there were any rips or stains.

Sango grabbed my hands and pulled them off of my dress. She laughed.

"No Kagome! It's just that you look too amazing! You're going to give those boys a hard time tonight. If you know what I mean." She winked at me.

I looked at her shocked. "And you call Roku the pervert!" She laughed.

"I was just kidding! But seriously- you look beautiful. That color is great on you."

I turned back at the mirror and looked myself over. I was wearing a green dress. It was a halter dress so I had a cream-colored throw around my shoulders. There were scattered crystals bordering the sides of my dress flowing along the curve of my hips. The dress ended tightly right after my knees so it had an hourglass shape to it. My hair was its regular shape but I had used some leave in conditioner and frizzy ease so it looked shinier than usual. I had small silver hoops in my ears that my Mother had given me for my birthday. It really looked better than I thought it would.

My door flew open and Souta walked in.

"Hey Sis, hey Sango. You both look so nice! Roku and that Koga guy with the ponytail are downstairs waiting for you guys. Just letting ya know."

"Thanks Souta, I'll bring you home leftovers." I said while giving him a hug. I would've yelled at him for not knocking but he complimented us! "Tell them we'll be down soon okay?"

"Thanks Sis, and sure thing."

He walked out shutting the door behind him. I turned to Sango and squeezed her hands tightly.

"You ready?" I said.

"Never." She smiled. "Let's go."

We walked out of my room and started down the stairs. Our footsteps were loud against the wooden steps since we had heels on. I could see Roku walking out of the main room and came to stand beneath the staircase waiting for us.

Sango was in front of me and Roku put his hand out for her. She hesitated but gave him her hand in response and he helped her off the two bottom steps. Once off the staircase Roku looked right at her and told her she was beautiful. A small blush spread across her cheeks and she smiled and thanked him.

I looked him up and down. He was wearing black dress pants and a white button down shirt with a purple tie. He had a black vest on that wasn't buttoned up. He was wearing formal clothes but he still looked a bit casual. He put his hand down but kept holding onto Sango's hand. She pulled away from him slowly but stood next to him and turned around waiting for me to come down. I has stopped in the middle of the staircase to watch them and then started going down again slowly.

This was the first time I has seen them together like this. Usually Sango is stomping away and Roku has a mark faded onto his face from getting slapped. But this was different. Better. They actually looked cute together.

'I can't wait to tell her that later.'

I wasn't very good at walking in heels and my focus was off. I felt myself starting to fall forward. I tried to catch onto the railing but even when I did my legs kept slipping down.

I closed my eyes and braced myself for a fall and it was cut off. I opened my eyes and Kouga was standing over me with one hand propped against my back stopping my fall. He pulled me up by my waist and helped me down the last two steps.

I pulled away and starting spewing words out "Thank you Kouga, I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching my step and-"

"It's alright Kagome!" He was laughing.

"I'm still sorry.."

"Don't worry about it. I've never walked in heels but it doesn't look fun."

I laughed and straightened my dress out. Turning to look at Kouga I gasped lightly.

His hair brushed back my neater than usual. He was wearing black dress pants and a dark brown button down shirt. He had on a blue tie that really brought his eyes out. He was holding a black jacket over his shoulders.

He was dressed well, and he wasn't bad looking either. His complexion was a bit tan and when he smiled his white teeth really lit his face up. I don't know why I had never noticed that about him before.

'Ayame has dibs Kagome.' My inner voice told me. 'I know I know. I'm just looking- there's no guilt in looking.' I thought.

"Wow Kagome, you look beautiful!" He said.

"Thank you.." I whispered.

I smiled at Kouga and took a few steps back. The doorbell rang. I rushed over to the door almost tripping again and opened it.

I gasped again. Inuyasha stood in front of me. His brother was behind him and had a girl holding on to his arm with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey Kagome, you look-" Inuyasha was cut off.

"Kagome!" The girl who was next to Sesshomaru let go of his arm and pushed past Inuyasha. She came in front of me and pulled me into a hug. I was taken off guard at first but then hugged her back. We both pulled away and I got a good look at her.

Her hair was up in a messy bun with a single black chopstick poking out of it. She has on a white silk sleeveless dress with an orange ribbon at the waist. She had on pearl earrings and her she was still smiling real big.

"Hi! My name is Rin- I've heard a bit about you Kagome!"

"Oh haha, hello Rin it's nice to meet you."

I walked out the door and Sango, Roku, and Kouga followed behind me. Once outside Rin was introducing herself and Sesshomaru to everyone else. I turned towards Inuyasha. He was looking at me with curious golden eyes.

"What is it?" I asked. "Were you saying something earlier?"

He opened his mouth like he was about to speak but then turned his head away from me.

"It was nothing, forget it." He said. Kouga walked up to Inuyasha and they just looked at each other.

I looked between both of them and understood why I'd never noticed Kouga before. Inuyasha's features were just more intense.

His silver hair was brushed back and loosely tied at the bottom of his head. He was wearing a red button down shirt and dress pants. His tie was white with two small rips of red in it.

Him and Kouga kept looking at each other and then turned towards me at the same time.

"Let's go Kagome." They both said.

"Uh, I'm driving her." Said Inuyasha.

Kouga folded his arms over his chest. "No. I'm driving her."

While they went back and forth at it, everybody else started walking away from the Shrine down the steps. Once they noticed they caught up to us.

Kouga and Inuyasha each grabbed one of my arms.

"Come on Kagome." said Inuyasha.

"Kagome you don't really want to go with him, do you?" asked Kouga.

Sango came over, grabbed my arm and pulled me away from both of them.

"She's driving with me boys." Sango said while we walked away. I felt my chest ease up. She's a lifesaver. I love her.

We all stopped at the bottom of the steps and formed into a messy circle.

Sango started talking. "Okay, how many of you have a car?"

Kouga and Roku both slightly raised their hands. Rin took Sesshomaru's hand and flung it into the air.

"Okay, I do too." Sango said. "Kagome and I are driving together and will all meet you at the parking lot across from that Church a few blocks before the restaurant. There aren't too many of us- the most we'd have to take is two cars so it's a waste for everyone to drive."

Rin spoke up. "I agree!" she said.

I grabbed Roku's sleeve.

"He'll come with us." I said. Roku smiled at Sango while walking over behind us and she just looked at the ground.

Kouga smiled and walked towards Sango. "I can sit with you all if you don't mind." He said.

"Sure that's fine." Said Sango. He thanked her and threw a smile towards me.

Inuyasha glared at him and crossed his arms.

"Great! So we'll meet you at the parking lot and then we can walk over." Said Rin.

Everyone started crossing the street to get over to the cars when Inuyasha grabbed my hand. "I have to ask you something." He said. Kouga and Sango looked back at me and I waved to them that I'd come in a minute. Once they crossed the street I looked at Inuyasha. Then I looked at my hand- he was still holding it.

Flushed he let go and stood up straight. "Where's Ayame? I thought you said she was coming." He asked.

I started feeling nervous. "Um, she was supposed to come. Then she had this thing and now she can't come- it all just didn't work the way I wanted it to." I started talking faster. "And I tried to find Koga yesterday so that I could tell him the plan was off but Gramps had told both of you to leave and I had no way to contact you-"

Inuyasha cut me off by putting a hand on my shoulder. His other hand was holding his head and he was looking down. A few seconds went by before he pulled up and looked at me.

"It's fine." He said. He still had a sour expression on his face.

I looked at him stunned. I was expecting him to be a little more pissed. "Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, whatever." He said looking away from me.

I smiled. "Thank you!" I said.

"Feh." His response.

I started walking away and he grabbed my wrist.

"Before, I was going to say that you look nice." He said. He wasn't making eye contact with me and his voice was low. He looked up and I saw a shy expression on his face.

I smiled up at him. "Thank you Inuyasha."

We walked across the street together and split off walking into separate cars.

Sango had saved me shot gun so I slid into the passenger seat. And we pulled out of the parking spot and continued on to the highway.

Inuyasha's P.O.V.

After I had gotten into the back of the car and Rin immediately started asking me questions.

"Kagome is so pretty Inuyasha!" she said. "Who's Kouga?" she asked.

"He smells horrible." Said Sesshomaru.

"Sess! That's not a nice thing to say." She scolded him and he didn't respond, focusing completely on driving.

"He's a wolf that works at the Shrine with me. We got hired together." I said.

"Oh, okay." Said Rin. "He seems nice enough Inuyasha.. but you better watch out. I saw at how he was looking at Kagome and I think that-"

I cut her off. "Feh. That wolf doesn't scare me! Besides I don't care, he can look at her all he wants." I barked.

Rin sighed and turned away from me. We drove in silence the rest of the way there. Sesshomaru pulled the car to a stop and we all got out. Rin ran over to where Sango had parked and started talking to her and Kagome.

I felt Sesshomaru standing oddly close next to my right side. He put his hand on my right shoulder and squeezed down on it lightly.

"Do not upset Rin again." He said coldly. He let go and walked a few steps ahead of me and paused.

"And I don't believe you're that blind. I feel as well as you can the hunger he has for her. That you both have." He walked away now.

I looked down at the ground. That douchebag. Looking up again I saw Kagome walking towards me, her hair flipped to one side.

"Ready to go?" she said with a smile on her face. I could feel the anger flowing out of me.

I nodded and we all started walking towards the restaurant. All the guys except Miroku were silent. Him and all the girls were ahead of us and were all talking to each other. I looked at the buildings we were walking by. It took about 5 blocks to get to La Mezzeluna. It was getting dark. Once we were in front of the restaurant the city's lights were illuminated. Signs were up for the festival next week and there were people walking in every direction.

We all entered the restaurant. It was Saturday night so it was completely packed. There were people sitting in the foyer waiting to be called in. Sesshomaru and Rin walked towards the front desk and the guy there picked up a bunch of menu's and start leading the way for us all. I could hear the complaints of the people that had been waiting behind us.

He lead us all the way into the back and showed us a big round table. It was covered in white cloth. We all grabbed seats. Sesshomaru and Miroku pulled out chairs for Rin and Sango. I went around to the other side and put my hand on a chair to pull it out for Kagome. I could feel it being tugged in another direction. I looked up to see the wolf pulling the same chair out.

"Let go." He said. I frowned at him.

"You let go!" I barked.

Kagome walked up between us. "Guys you're really loud! Don't make a scene." She hissed. She turned to look at me. "Inuyasha you promised you would behave!"

"Um excuse me, is there a problem I can assist you with?" Said someone. I cocked my head to see a scrawny waiter come up behind Kagome. She turned around to face him.

"Hojo!" she exclaimed. "I didn't know you worked here!"

"Oh yeah. I just started last week. Wow Kagome- you look amazing. I heard you got sick. Do you feel better? I have this medicine that does wonders…"

He kept talking. I looked at Kouga and he was looking at Kagome waiting for her to turn around. I looked back at her.

"Feh." I said. I let go of the chair and sat down in my own. Kouga followed my lead and we both sat down leaving the seat in between us empty.

I looked towards my right at Miroku. He was pointing at something on Sango's menu and they were talking. Rin was sitting across from me next to Sesshomaru. She was examining the napkin swan that was folded on her plate from every angle. Sesshomaru was quietly looking at his menu. A waiter passed the front of our table with a plate of hot food. A wave of different smells passed in front of me and I could feel the inside of my mouth drool.

I opened up my menu as Kagome sat down. She turned to me.

"Anything you'd recommend in there?" she asked while smiling.

"I wouldn't really know. It's my first time in here." I said. "You could ask Rin."

"Ask me what?" Rin yelled at the mention of her name.

"What's good on the menu?" asked Kagome. They started chatting.

I looked around the room at all the different plates and one caught my eye. It had a pyramid of rice with noodles all around it. I looked back at my menu and tried to find its name.

Just then I smelled something strong coming from my left. It knocked into my so hard I had to pull my head back. It felt familiar, it smelled like Kagome but there was something else. I looked at her, not understanding what was going on.

"Hey we should go wash our hands." said Sango.

"Sure!" Rin stood up in excitement.

"Hey guys can you watch our stuff?" said Kagome.

We all nodded.

They all left the table but not before I caught another whiff of the smell coming from Kagome. My whole body inclined towards her and I could feel myself becoming intoxicated. My whole mouth filled with saliva.

It started fading as she walked away. Leaving me aching and confused. I looked at the guys and Kouga's had his hand over his nose. Sesshomaru seemed unaffected.

"What the hell was that!" I said.

Kouga looked up at me and took in a breath of air. "Are you an idiot? Kagome just went into heat you moron!"

I felt my face heat up and looked down.

'Shit. This was so bad. I can't sit next to that!'

I looked up at Sesshomaru.

"Why aren't you freaking out?" I yelled.

"Rin is my mate. I'm immune." He said while placing his menu down.

'What? When did Rin become his mate? Had he marked her? She's too innocent for that.'

I looked at Miroku. "What about you?"

"Uh. I'm human, Inuyasha. I can't sense it like you're able- I'm also sure Kagome can't. Are you feeling alright?" he asked.

I felt light headed. Her smell was so intense. I could still feel it slightly swirling around me. "I can't think straight." I told him.

"You better." Said Kouga. "We can't touch her."

I head started clearing up. And I sat up straight. I looked over at Koga. His back was still arched over. "She's gone, why are you still like that?" I asked him.

"No offense, but you're a half-demon. Your human side is immune to her smell. So I crave her more than you ever will."

"I don't crave her!" I yelled. Kouga smirked at me and straightened out. I saw the girls walking back towards the table.

"Only breathe when you really need to." Said Sesshomaru.

I inhaled deeply and caught my breath in my throat as Kagome sat down. She looked between Kouga and me and smiled.

"Did you guys decide what you're ordering?" she asked. I shook my head. If I wanted to hold my breath I couldn't afford speaking. Kouga nodded and pointed to a dish on his menu.

A few minutes passed and I could feel my lungs squeezing in. I needed to breath. Maybe I could make it quick and I wouldn't catch anything. I looked around and started timing myself. A waiter would be passing our table in a few minutes with a plate of food. Maybe that would diffuse her smell. I waited just as the food passed and let myself go and inhaled quickly focusing on the food.

It felt like someone had thrown a brick right into my gut. There was no food. Just Kagome. Everywhere. All around me it was her smell. Her honey and jasmine smell was always nice but this was more. This was everything. My brain started running around in circles. I looked at Kouga and his face was turned away from her.

My eyes passed Kagome and I got a good look at her. Her dress had looked nice before but now her skin looked like it was glowing. She was staring down at her menu and biting her bottom lip in confusion. My eyes trailed down to her chest. She absentmindedly threw her hair on the shoulder farther away from mine. Her bare neck just inches away from my face.

My fangs elongated in my mouth. I had been digging my hands into my thighs and I felt my claws become sharper. I shook my head and looked away from her.

'This isn't safe.' I thought.

I looked back at her and she shook out her hair in my direction now. Sending another whiff in my direction. Another brick throw into my gut.

Was she trying to kill me? I looked away again. I bite down and my fangs cut my tongue, my own blood flowing into my mouth.

I covered my face on my left side so she wouldn't see me.

'Get a grip' my inner voice told me.

'_Take her.'_ The same voice told me. No- that wasn't the same, that wasn't me. Was that my youkai? I glanced her way again and she straightened out her back. Her chest heaving up and down with her movements.

'_Just take her.'_ It told me. I fought with it. 'No! I don't even want her.'

'_So you're just giving up to that wolf over there. You know you want her. He can't crave her. Not more than this.'_

'No I don't! She's just in heat. That's all. I can get through it.'

'_Just give control over to me! I'll take care of it all.'_

My mind started to retreat and my chest rumbled as I looked straight up. Rin looked at me and gasped. Fear immediately filled her eyes. My consciousness jumped back. She tugged at Sesshomaru and he looked up at me. I looked into his golden eyes and saw red ones being reflected in them.

He stood up. "We should wash our hands now." He said.

All the guys stood and followed his lead. As we walked into the bathroom I stopped after catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My pupils were tiny and blue with a pool of red surrounding them. There were two purple streaks on my cheeks resembling Sesshomaru's but mine weren't as straight. I was shocked and took a step back.

I blinked a few times and my pupils dilated bringing back their golden color. But they were still surrounded by red. Miroku stood by my side and gaped at my reflection.

"What happened to you?" he said.

I shook my head and looked at myself again. I didn't know what to tell him.

"His demon side is surfacing." Said Sesshomaru. I turned around to look at him.

"What?" I barked.

"The same thing happens with your human side. This is just the opposite. It has happened to you once before." He said. "You were really young and we had been fighting."

"Of course we were." I said. A growl erupted from my chest. I folded my arms and traced the lines on my face, they were warmer than the rest of my skin.

"You lost control. All bringing you back required was to knock you out."

"Asshole." I said. That bastard probably enjoyed it too. My chest kept erupting with growls. I was unable to quiet down.

He looked at me and smirked. "It was the only way dear Brother. That's besides the point right now."

"Well, what is your fucking point?" I yelled.

"The point is that it looks like your other side is able to resurface from more than just anger."

"What?" I snarled.

He opened the door about to walk out.

"Control yourself under any circumstances. Or I can knock you out."

"Feh. I ain't gunna lose control. She's nothing for me to lose my control over anyways." I barked.

Kouga had been leaning on a nearby wall listening to everything. He walked up right in front of me.

"It doesn't make a difference to me if you like Kagome or not because she's mine. So you won't talk about her like that in front of me mutt-face. You just better control your half-ass-self and keep your hands and teeth off of her."

He walked away and my chest began to rumble and growl. I turned back to the mirror and my eyes were still bloodshot.

'Fucking wolf.'

Miroku put his hand on my back and I turned around to look at him.

"Don't let him get to you Inuyasha. Just try your best to control yourself. And don't worry about Kagome. She can handle herself more than any of you know."

He stayed behind me as I tried to recompose myself. I leaned on the bathroom's counter and closed my eyes focusing on my breathing. After about 30 seconds I looked up into the mirror and saw golden eyes surrounded by white. The lines on my skin had faded away. I opened my mouth and saw my fangs were still longer than usual.

I could think straight again without her intoxicating smell around me.

"Thanks Miroku." I said. I can't remember the last time someone hadn't left me alone to deal with myself.

'What did Sesshomaru mean when he said more than only anger makes me this way?'

I stood up straight and took a deep breath.

"Let's go." I said to Miroku. We walked out of the bathroom back towards our table.

Kagome's P.O.V.

The guys had all sat down after coming back from the bathroom. Inuyasha and Kouga both hadn't said a word to me.

'Did I do something wrong?'

While we waited for our meals to arrive to the table everyone was talking to each other. Rin was rambling to Sesshomaru about something while he just looked at her. Miroku and Sango were having a surprisingly lively conversation.

It was only Inuyasha and Kouga who were quiet. I could understand Inuyasha somewhat because he was irritated with tonight's circumstances.

But, Kouga? He WANTED to be here next to me. What was his problem? I was so bored!

Who said I had to wait for them to talk? I could try and make conversation! I mustered up some courage and turned to my right.

"Um Inuyasha?" I asked. He turned to me and his pupils looked like there were faltering. I blinked my eyes a few times to make sure.

There were fine. Maybe I was going crazy.

"What's up, Kagome?" he asked.

"Um." I said.

'Crap. Why don't I ever think ahead? Here I am with his attention on me and I have no idea what I want to say.'

"Well. It's just quiet is all. What did you do today?"

"Nothing." He said. Then he quickly turned away from me.

I felt a lump build up in my throat.

'What's his problem?' I thought. 'He was so sweet to me when I was sick. He even flirted with me in front of my friends. And now he won't even talk to me!'

I threw my hair over my right shoulder putting some distance in between us. I looked over and saw his back bend over a little and he clenched his fists against the table.

'Maybe he feels sick.' I thought.

"Kagome!" I looked up at the table to see Rin looking at me expectantly.

"Oh, yes Rin?" I asked.

"You're so far away! I want to get to know you better!" she shouted.

I wished she would calm down a little, she was almost as loud as Ayame. The other table over was looking towards us. She walked over and around the table behind my seat.

"Inuyasha!" she yelled. He turned around to glare at her.

"What?" he said. His voice sounded harsh and scratchy.

"I want your seat, I haven't been able to talk to Kagome at all!"

Inuyasha grunted as he got up without arguing, silently walking over to sit next to his brother. I felt my heart drop when he left so easily.

Rin sat next to me and gave me another one of her big smiles.

"Okay! Now I want to know EVERYTHING about you!"

I smiled. At least someone wanted to talk to me.

**After Dinner**

Inuyasha's P.O.V.

'I'm so glad that's over.' I thought.

Though dinner was rough being at a distance made things easier. I'll have to thank Rin later. Now that I was walking up wind of her it was a bit easier.

We were out of the restaurant and walking back to the parking lot. It had gotten cold outside so I had given my jacket to Kagome. She was walking behind talking to Rin and Sango. Miroku was walking next to me.

"How ya feeling Inuyasha?" he asked.

"Better, thanks man." I said.

"No problem. I think you handled yourself a lot better than Kouga did."

"Ha, hell yeah." I said. Thinking back to it I laughed. The stupid wolf had to get up every fifteen minutes to go to the bathroom.

We reached the cars. Kouga decided to come with us this time because he didn't want to risk being in the same car as Kagome. No one said their goodbyes because we were all meeting back at the Shrine.

The ride back was quiet. Once we reached the Shrine everyone got out of the car except for Sesshomaru, he kept the engines on and running.

Rin ran out and said her goodbyes to the girls. I shook Miroku and Sango's hand. Kouga looked like he took everything he had in him to give Kagome a hug. He drove away soon after.

Rin was taking a long time talking to Kagome and Sango. Miroku didn't live too far away so he stuck around to keep me company for a while. Sesshomaru turned off the engines but still waiting inside the car.

I was getting impatient.

"Rin we should get going, Sesshomaru is waiting for us." I said.

"Inuyasha chill out!" she yelled. "Since when do you care if he waits or not?"

She had a good point. I put my hands in my pocket and relaxed against the car. Miroku followed my lead as we waiting for the girls to finish talking.

I felt a small wind pass by my feet. Looking down I saw there was nothing there. I saw a flash of orange through my peripheral vision.

"Watch out!" I yelled. The girls turned around to look at me confused and I saw the flash of orange again.

Kagome screamed. I rushed over behind her and saw something latched onto her right leg.

I quickly grabbed the thing and pulled it off by its tail.

"What the hell!" I yelled.

Once I had picked it off Kagome, I turned it around to face me. It was a boy. He had orange hair and green eyes. There were scratches over his hands and face.

"Let go of me!" he yelled.

His ears were pointy and he smelled like a demon. He was shivering and glaring at me. Suddenly he threw a giant ball of green flames at me.

"The fuck!" I dropped him immediately and started fanning the flames away from me. They wouldn't go away. But after a few seconds I realized they didn't burn.

"Magic, huh?" I said grabbing the punk once again before he ran away. The flames went out. "What did you want with Kagome you little creep?"

"Nothing! Let go! They'll find me!" he yelled.

"What?" I said.

I looked behind us at the street and could see two guys running towards us in the distance. They were really far away and looked human.

I grabbed the boy and pulled him up to me face.

"What do they want with you? What did you do?" I said.

He started crying. "I didn't do anything! They beat me up! Just let go so I can run before they find me!"

Kagome walked over and took him out of my hand.

"Inuyasha don't yell at him. It looks like he's telling the truth."

"You don't know that!" I yelled. I took a few steps back. I still couldn't afford to get too close to her.

"Look at him! He's hurt! He needs help. What's your name?"

The kid had stopped crying. "It's Shippo."

"Why were you running Shippo? Where are your parents?" she asked.

"They died a few weeks ago, I've been living on the streets."

**Inside the Shrine**

Kagome's P.O.V.

No one had gone home.

Sango, Rin and I were standing at the kitchen counter with my Mom. The guys were all in the living room sitting together. Souta and Shippo were sitting at the table talking.

My Mother walked over to the table and gave the boys some hot chocolate. Shippo kept thanking her, he looked so grateful..

She walked over to me and started whispering.

"Kagome, where is your little friend from? His tail is so adorable!" she said.

"We found him on the street, he said his parents had died a while ago. Some guys were chasing after him. He was crying so I thought the best thing to do was to bring him in." I said. I looked down at my own cup of tea and then looked over to Shippo.

Souta and him were talking about something or the other. It looked like he was genuinely happy. But every time they stopped talking he face fell down.

'He looks so depressed..'

Sango started moving away from me and towards the table. She started speaking to Shippo.

"Shippo, do you have any family around here that we could contact for you?"

The little demon looked at his cup of hot chocolate and tried his best to smile up at her.

"No, it was just my parents. I stayed in foster care for a while but the kids there were all mean so I preferred the streets for a while.. till I realized it was worse."

Sango just stood there- she looked speechless. I looked beside myself to my Mother and read the look in her eyes. I took a few seconds to make sure it was right and walked over to Shippo.

"Hey Shippo, how about staying with us?" I asked while I kneeled down to his height.

"Huh? Stay with you.. really? Would you all do that?" He looked so shocked.

"Of course! I mean we can't just let you go back to the street, plus you don't have a bad aura. I can sense it. We would love it if you stayed with us Shippo." I said.

Little tears appeared in his eyes and he jumped off the seat and into my arms.

"Thank you Kagome! You have no idea what this means to me. It's horrible out there alone! Does this mean you're my new Mom?"

I smiled. My heart felt like it was about to explode, I'd never felt this good before! Seeing him smile- it was amazing to me. "Sure Shippo, I can be your Mom if you want me to be."

He smiled up at me and hugged into my chest.

Sango reached out to put her hand on his head.

"And for what it's worth, if you'd like you can come and train at my Dojo. I could teach you how to protect yourself. Souta and my little brother Kohaku attend." She said.

Souta bounced up in his chair. "We can go there together! It'll be like having a brother around!" he yelled.

Mom and Rin walked over as well. Rin smiled at him and Mom lifted him out of my arms. "Welcome to our family Shippo!"

The guys walked into the room. Inuyasha had his hand over his mouth and was looking pale. Sesshomaru and Roku stood in front of him.

"What's going on?" said Roku.

"Shippo is staying with us!" I yelled.

"Oh that's great! Gramps and my Master know a decent amount about fox magic, they could lend Shippo some instruction."

Shippo jumped over to Roku's shoulder. "Really Roku? It'd make me so much stronger!"

My heart kept swelling with happiness. Shippo was actually jumping around in happiness. He jumped into my arms again.

"Well, this is your home now Shippo. We'll get you registered for school in the fall also." I said.

"Home.. wow. Thank you so much everyone, thank you."

**End of Chapter Five**

Ha! There we goo! Finished another one. Huzzah!

It obviously took longer than I planned because college is taking me by surprise. The food is so much better here. This is the longest chapter I've written thus far so yay! I make no promise on when I will update but it will most likely be within the next three weeks.

Also I know I've so far only stayed within Inuyasha's and Kagome's P.O.V. but does anyone think I should go along with anyone else point of view? Gimme your feedback please. (:

Sorry about it kind of being a little mushy at the end there. You guys think I incorporated Shippo alright? This way he'll be around a good amount. I wonder what other characters I can use.. suggestions will be taken into consideration so holler at me if you want!

Thank you everyone for reading and **please PLEASE review** so I can get your input on things!

Teaser for the next chapter: There will be an end of the Spring Lantern festival coming up and everyone is making preparations at the Higurashi Shrine. I wonder if more will spark than just fire crackers.


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